'Decisions' is a thoughtful play by Wellesley College students

By Alexander Stevens Correspondent

Monday

Apr 16, 2018 at 8:08 AMApr 18, 2018 at 3:20 PM

Nora Hussey had the perfect exit strategy.

This summer, she will step down as director of theatre at Wellesley College after 28 years in the theater program. For her last show, she planned to direct a production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” set in Paris after the First World War. It would provide a fitting bookend, as Hussey launched the Wellesley Repertory Theatre with a production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“And then Parkland happened,” she says.

In one of the deadliest school shootings in history, 17 people – most of them teenagers – were murdered on Valentine’s Day at the Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Suddenly, a comedy no longer seemed appropriate.

“There was no way I was going to do something so trivial when this much is going on in the world,” says Hussey. “These kids are growing up in a world I can’t imagine.”

Hussey scratched “Midsummer” and set her sights on an original theater piece, conceived, written and performed by Wellesley students. It is co-directed by Lois Roach. The result is “Decisions,” running April 19-22 at Wellesley College.

The show combines music, dance, storytelling and some short scenes to tackle an array of topics that confront millennials. The piece is still evolving in rehearsals, but topics that the students seem likely to address include immigration, domestic violence, dysfunctional relationships and sexual aggression.

For three decades, Hussey, a Wellesley resident, has had a front-row seat to the challenges facing college students, and she believes these kids may be living with a level of stress that few generations have faced in modern times.

“They’re concerned about academic success, career plans, and they’re much more involved with their family dynamics than I ever was as a young person,” she says. “These students were coming into their teens when the recession hit, so they’ve seen their family go through challenges. Some of them are acutely aware of (parental) expectations. They’re trying to figure out how you meld that with your own personal dreams.”

Hussey also sees a high level of sensitivity in these students that can help make them thoughtful, insightful storytellers.

“They’re very aware of other people’s frailties, and I think that’s commendable,” she says. “They also have an anger about the world, and I think that’s good, too. Complacency is our biggest enemy.”

Hussey says the play avoids getting overtly political. It’s possible the entire show may run without anyone ever uttering the words “Donald Trump.”

“There’s no sense in beating a dead horse,” says Hussey. “The question now is: What are we going to do about it? How are we going to make sure this doesn’t happen again?”

The play also provides new lessons on how to make theater. This process eschews the conventional method, where a playwright sits alone in their hovel, tapping out a script, and then two, or five, or 50 or 100 years later, someone decides to stage it, as long as it doesn’t require too many actors.

But the process of creating “Decisions” is far more dynamic, organic and nimble.

“If something happens in the news in the next two weeks” – and with the dead horse we have in the White House, it probably will – “we can incorporate it into the show,” says Hussey.

Although this is a piece that’s written and performed by fewer than a dozen young women who are barely old enough to vote, Hussey still believes that “Decisions” can pack a powerful punch. In fact, she compares its message to the theme of one of the most important plays of the 20th century.

“I hope that the people who come to see it will question their own daily process,” says Hussey. “It’s like the lesson of ‘Our Town.’ These are the good times and these are the bad times, but we have a habit of going through life without noticing them. It’s about creating awareness. Life is not a dress rehearsal.”

The students in Parkland are acutely aware of that fact. And if the shooting inspired Hussey to scrap “Midsummer” and tackle “Decisions,” then perhaps the Parkland students, who so admirably and effectively organized the recent March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., can remind the Wellesley students of the power of their voices.

The Parkland student organizers “are so incredibly articulate,” says Hussey. “They can speak about their experiences, and they can speak about them so effectively. Many of them are theater kids – which isn’t a surprise to anyone.”

“Decisions” runs April 19-22 at the Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre on the campus of Wellesley College, in Wellesley. Call 781-283-2000, or visit wellesley.edu/theatre.